How can I be sure my air is dry?

[Todd Simpson]

I’ve got a 30 gallon compressor tank, and the drain failed years ago so there may be water in it.

I’ll be starting a new project soon and I want to make sure I do it right. I put the stuff in the picture below in line before my gun on the last project, but the stakes are much higher on this next project.

What should I do?

[962porsche]

why not replace the drain petcock on your compressor?
they are NPT threads and only cost about 5$ and even most home stores have them.

[Todd Simpson]

OK, that was a dumb question. Of course I should have fixed what I have first.

So....I have replaced the drain. I run a dehumidifier in the garage and keep it at 55% or so humidity.

What else would you recommend? thank you.

[962porsche]

what your looking to use as a water separator you may find kind of restrictive to feed enough air flow to your HVLP gun.
HVLP is what it stands for it needs a high volume of air not pressure so you can't make up the difference by cranking up the air pressure supply.
most filters like the red one your showing are not HVLP

[Bill Douglas]

If the white part is a desiccant air dryer it should dry the air out well.

I have one in my setup and the odd problem of dots in the paint went away. I take the drying crystals (whatever they're called) and dry them with a hot air gun, cool them off and put them back in each time I do car paint. The crystals I have a blue when dry and red when they have any moisture so it's quite easy to figure out how they are doing.

[jjeffries]

I found a refrigerated air dryer on CList that came out of an machine shop which was closing, paid $200. They aren't common but do come up occasionally. I think a new one would start around $800. Much easier than the mechanical means of getting the water out of the compressed air. Also saves damage to bearings in other air tools.

John

[Discseven]

Old thread I know. Still...

Put 2 of those desiccant cartridges inline one after the other. Color will change in first cartridge only if the air is dry leaving the gun...